WAUKESHA — Jordan Elsen and former University of Wisconsin teammate Tyler Obermueller were still in the hunt at the 108th Wisconsin State Amateur despite hacking it around as part of the final threesome at Merrill Hills Country Club during the first six holes of Thursday’s closing round.

Elsen could not get his game stabilized until it was too late, while Obermueller was able to regain his balance. Obermueller needed only a par on the final hole to win the title in what was his last event as an amateur; he will turn pro today at the Minnesota state open, in which he had an 8:30 tee time this morning.

Tough pin placements and final-round pressure led to ballooning scores. Obermueller, a left-handed redhead who five-putted the par-five second for a double-bogey seven, played the back nine — the nines were flipped for the event — in even-par 36 for a 6-over-par 77 (41-36) and a 72-hole total of 288. That was one shot better than Miles McConnell (37-39--76) of Fitchburg, who led after nine but bogeyed 18 to open the door for Obermueller, and Andrew DeKeuster (36-37--73) of Franksville.

Elsen, the former Tremper student who is a member at the Kenosha Country Club, slipped when he played holes four, five and six in bogey, double bogey, bogey. When he bogeyed nine, 10 and 11, his frustration was visible. He played the last seven in 1-over to finish with an 80 (41-39) that left him alone in fourth at 291.

Elsen cited the par-3 fifth as the hole that will probably bring bad thoughts when he helps at the UW junior golf camp that begins this morning.

“I knew I could hit a smooth 5-iron to the middle of the green and two-putt,” Elsen said.

Instead, he said he “chunked” a 5-iron that left in rough 50 yards short of the green.

“The ball was sitting down in the rough,” Elsen said. “I just hacked it out of there. I thought it was going to release, so I tried to land it in the middle of the green, but I only landed it in the front, on the up slope. It just stayed on the front.

“I had like a 60-, 65-footer for a par. I lagged it up there. It was a lot slower than I expected. I lagged it up there to probably 6 feet, and misread it. I hit a decent putt, just misread it.”

Elsen, who said after Wednesday’s third round that he was “grinding it out better than I ever have,” could not find that aspect of his game Thursday. He had seven bogeys — there were only eight through three rounds — the double bogey and 10 pars. He made no birdies after making 10 over the first three rounds.

“It was just the ball striking, really,” said Elsen, who graded his performance as a C or C-minus. “I didn’t hit it well at all. Off the tee I was so-so. I missed a lot of fairways. My iron play was just brutal. The last three days it wasn’t that bad. Today it really caught up to me.

“I don’t know what was going on. I was trying to slow down and trying figure some stuff out. I was just moving all over the place. (I was) really inconsistent, so I really couldn’t try to work it one way, or hit a draw, or just hit one fade, one shot. I was moving all over the place. It wasn’t pretty.

“I really didn’t hit many good shots today. Eighteen was probably my best two swings back-to-back.”

But even that did not work out well, as his second shot hit hole high but spun back to leave him with a 25-foot birdie putt.

“Even my second shot landed pin high and spun too much and caught another bad break,” he said. “That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

He was happy for Obermueller.

“I wanted either one of us two to win,” Elsen said. “I wish we would have played a little better and made it a little bit more exciting in the group, but I’m really happy for him. We’re good buddies, and he’ll always be one of my best friends. Going to college with him was a blast and I hope he has a really successful professional career. I’m happy for him.”

That happiness only goes so far when Elsen thinks of what might have been.

“If you would have told me I would shoot 76 today and win the golf tournament, I probably would have laughed,” Elsen said. “But that’s just the way it goes sometime.”